The Kipper Smokehouse at Stone Farmer’s Market

And now a trip down memory lane*. Not only does Stone have a Food & Drink Festival, there’s also the Farmer’s Market. We didn’t see the best of the weather when we were visiting the markets, with the wind whistling down the pedestrian shopping precinct rivalling an Ekka wind down George St. Surprisingly, there wasn’t that much produce on offer but there were plenty of other tasty treats to buy. Our haul included:

1 Portuguese Custard Tart (Pasteis de Nata)

1 Portuguese Coconut Tart

1 Chorizo stuffed roll (Portuguese of course)

½ dozen Portobello Mushrooms

1 Caramelised Onion, Feta and Rosemary flat bread

1 Apple Pie

1 Bottle of Real Ale

1 Bottle of Real Cider (not very nice as it turns out)

The Worlds Biggest Marrow (deserves a separate post)

There were plenty of ‘authentic country sellers’ with items such as hare or mallard but the popular choice on this particular Saturday morning was the fishmonger. The Salmon looked great – as if it had jumped from the water straight onto the stall. The item that seemed to be outselling everything were the kippers. Pause for a Fawlty Towers mini skit as you’re reading this.

The hook for selling the kippers was the portable smokehouse, smoking the fish whilst the customers waited. They looked delicious (the kippers, not the customers). Splayed onto rods, they were golden from real smoke rather than bright yellow from liquid smoke and food colouring and gleaming with the oil rendered from their tasty torsos as they smoked.

The buyers were two deep and as soon as the smokehouse door was closed, someone else came along who wanted a pair. The stall holder knew his audience and each time suggested ’What about two pair?’ and invariably sold the second pair. Unfortunately, there was no way of us keeping and transporting these tasty breakfast treats but no doubt they transported many of their fans at the market.

So, that’s the pizza oven I’ve always wanted in the backyard and now, a smokehouse too.

*This post was originally published on TIFFIN blogspot on October 12, 2009 but went missing during the transition to TIFFIN bite sized food adventures